A pair of engravings depicting the bow and stern of a model of a 1741 Establishment 60-gun ship

The quaintly-titled "Establishment" Period of the Royal Navy lasted from 1719 until 1745 and was, broadly speaking, an era of peace until war broke out with Spain in 1739 (the so-called "War of Jenkin's Ear") which then merged into a more general war with France known to history as the War of the Austrian Succession. Significantly, this long period of peace was not one of neglect for the Navy and its fleets were surprisingly well maintained throughout; rather, it was a time of technical inertia during which the deeply conservative attitude of the Surveyor of the Navy, Sir Jacob Ashworth, prevented any fundamental changes in the design or building of ships whose roots still lay in the late seventeenth century.

Ashworth's first detailed "Establishment" of dimensions and scantlings (thicknesses of timber) drawn up in 1719 set the pattern for his tenure of office although as details of developments in rival navies filtered through into the Admiralty, periodic changes were made in 1733 and again in 1741. As far as 60-gun ships in the 1741 Establishment were concerned, their basic dimensions were only marginally larger than those of 1719. Whilst the length of the main decks was only slightly increased from 144 to 147 feet, the tonnage was markedly increased from 951 tons to 1,123½ even though the armament stayed the same except for that on the upper deck which changed from 26-9pounders to 24-12 pounders. In all, six 60-gun fourth rates were ordered and built to the 1741 Establishment, the last of which - H.M.S. CANTERBURY - survived until 1770.